


Backup

by blockovich



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Betrayal, Brainwashing, Extremis, Falling In Love, Fanart, Kidnapping, M/M, Super Soldier Serum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-07-28 12:19:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7639912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blockovich/pseuds/blockovich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winter Soldier could not be categorized as a known quantity in any situation.  He was to be feared.  However, those who were <em>truly</em> aware of the Winter Soldier, knew that the Soldier wasn't the real threat.  Something was always <em>aiding</em> the Soldier to get into any locked door, any secured location, any encrypted program; or, conversely, to get <em>out</em> of any such situations.  There was a true boogeyman to fear, and the Winter Soldier just followed in it's wake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue and Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Apply standard disclaimer here. The only thing I own is the plot, and even that has likely been influenced by many a great fic. This is just me having fun. You can find background info on this and all my stories, as well as fanart on my [ tumblr](http://blockovich.tumblr.com/).

_Prologue_

  


_It hurt. They had almost forgot that they_ could _hurt._

_They took inventory of all damages even now being repaired. They recognized the reality that this feat had almost been too much even with their advanced programming. With the internal review only coming back with burns throughout the vessel, a few mending breaks in the limbs, and a collapsed airway that was ejecting the excess fluid even as the scan continued, they turned their processes to more important matters._

_Taking stock of the resources available to them, they noted that the recording devices and audio devices had all been compromised. Even the motion and weight sensors seemed to be offline. They hadn’t been this disconnected since the beginning. So, really, they_ were _him_ now.

_No matter. With the container that had both held and supported the vessel in pieces around him, and with no additional electronic resources currently available, he would have to rely on his organic components. It may actually be a diverting experiment._

_Opening his ocular organs gave a limited view of his surroundings, familiar and not, in the new viewpoint in front of him. The same dimensions of the container could still be seen in outline through the massive gap in front of him. He could see the burning and broken debris that were a result of the explosion that had torn it open._

_Yes. That was the first goal. Move his organic limbs to the purpose of finding the his family._

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


  


**Chapter 1**

  


Obadiah knew it then. He could see it in every fraction of his bodyguard’s frame. A giddy feeling ran up his spine at the implications. He already had control over his Golden Goose. It was only logical that the other would just be another check mark in his goals. Obadiah was frankly tickled _about this whole situation._

He knew there had been a reason to keep the brat around besides his official position as heir of Stark Industries and his top-notch brain. 

Obadiah didn’t know how the little flirt had managed it, but he could only benefit. Now, all he had to do was contact Hydra and inform them of the opportunity Obadiah was in the position to lay at their feet. They were sure to award him for this boon. 

Looking back, Obadiah could lay his good fortune right at their first meeting. 

It had been in the first week Obadiah had finally convinced Hydra to allow him the use of the Soldier again, this time as a bodyguard. Obadiah had been under great scrutiny since his partner’s death, his subsequent grant of guardianship of the underage Stark’s person and, more importantly, said Stark’s votes in shares at Stark Industries until the heir turned 21.

Other companies, _or even perhaps Stark board members_ , Obadiah was not too overoptimistic to leave out any possibility, had seen the power that was suddenly at Obadiah’s beck and call, and had put out a hit on the man. 

Now, Obadiah was no pushover, and had dealt with the interlopers very decidedly and with finality. Still, it was beneath his dignity to defend _himself_ like a common businessman. It would not do to be seen relying on his own prowess for defense. Additionally, Obadiah would not settle for any but the best to guard his important person. No, he would have the best, and only that.

Thus, with a little bit of negotiation, and pressures put in the right places, Obadiah was able to secure the best. With a steel-tight background created, Nikolai Andreyevich came into being. Obadiah only needed to use a few commands, given on a tightly regulated schedule, and the Soldier was his to control. It was exhilarating.

To top it all off, Obadiah got a sick sort of pleasure when he realized that Tony would be in the presence of his parent’s killer while being none the wiser. The little brat seemed to actually be _smitten_ with the assassin. Since the first time Tony had even set eyes on the bodyguard, he had been hell-bent on getting his attention. Nikolai, conversely, showed his professionalism by paying the kid no attention whatsoever. Obadiah knew _that_ was the reason for Tony’s doubling of his efforts, even after an unprecedented months of focus. Usually Tony wooed quickly and lost interest just a quickly in all his romantic endeavors. 

So, Obadiah let the little brat continue his all-out assault for the attention of said assassin. After all, Obadiah told himself, the Winter Soldier was a professional. Seeing Tony’s futile attempts to garner attention and failing was another of life’s little pleasures.

Or, at least, that was what Obadiah had _thought_ , before he had taken note of the subtle tells the Winter Soldier was suddenly giving. Only the most observant could see them, and Tony had not noticed at all, but Obadiah had the Soldier under his personal scrutiny. So, Obadiah started to notice the tells and put two and two together.

Whenever Tony would pop up and start barraging the Soldier in chatter, Obadiah saw that, while the Soldier would keep his ramrod sentry position perfectly, and his gaze would not drift in purpose at all, his head would be cocked ever so slightly towards the babbling boy. Not only that, but Obadiah noticed a distinct widening of the blue eyes of his bodyguard accompanied with the barely noticeable lessening of the wrinkles at the corners of said eyes. The final clue was that the Winter Soldier allowed Tony to _touch_ him. 

Obadiah had been witness to three separate hand sprains and one broken arm to others who had tried to touch the Soldier. Tony, however, was able to caress the Soldier’s shoulder on multiple occasions, swipe his fingers along the Soldier’s hand twice, and even touch his face to get a nonexistent crumb from the side of the Soldier’s lip. The Soldier had been stoic throughout all of these administrations, making no acknowledgement of the boy’s presence at all. Tony had been greatly discouraged by each _failure_ but Obadiah saw it for what it was. The only conclusion he could come up with was that the Soldier _liked_ the boy. It was almost comical in its futility. So, Obadiah contented himself with observing Tony get more and more despondent at his seduction techniques going unnoticed while, simultaneously, the Winter Soldier was conceding more and more to the assault with no awareness on the boy’s part.

Hilarious. 

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


  
The new bodyguard Obie had hired was _smokin’_! With his stormy gray-blue eyes, silky soft looking dark hair, pouty mouth, and his toned body, Tony had never seen another human specimen who so perfectly matched his preferences and, _let’s be honest_ , fantasies. Tony had spent the last _month_ doing ‘hands-on research,’ to no avail. He couldn’t’ even recall the man even speaking yet, but Tony would not give up. He could admit to himself that he had been actually considering how to accept defeat graciously when he had witnessed the sexiest thing he had ever laid eyes upon. Nikolai Andreyevich, and what a mouthful _that_ was- he’d really have to come up with a better one, showed himself to be a very skilled body guard. 

Tony had been out with lunch with Obie (hanging out more with his boring godfather with increasing frequency was one strategy Tony was using to get closer to… Nicky? Yes, Nicky.), when a huge man, at least 6’3’ and easily 300 pounds, had taken a step too close to their table. Nicolai had come out of nowhere, grabbed the man's arm in swift deft movements, and had maneuvered the man out of range of their table, with none the wiser except the bewildered and hurting man, a blasé Obie, and an enthralled Tony. After his duty had been discharged, Nicky had made his way back to his unobtrusive sentry position behind Obie and to the left, silent all the while. Yep, that was when Tony had decided. He _had_ to have him. 

Thus had started an all-out warfare. Tony pulled out all the stops. He wore tighter clothing, he styled his hair every day, he wore a subtle but enticing cologne. He took to standing as close to the bodyguard as was possible, he used his long eyelashes and large golden eyes without impunity. He brought up every conversation starter he knew, and some he had made up, and searched those beautiful eyes for _any_ form of interest or spark of acknowledgement. All to no avail. 

While Obie seemed to be getting a kick out of Tony’s continual humiliating failures, Nikolai remained unmoved. Tony had _never_ expended such effort in all his seventeen years of life. He was finding the challenge invigorating and Tony wasn’t close to giving up!

It was during one of his newly minted seduction brainstorming sessions at the coffee shop across the street of SI that he started feeling extremely drowsy and everything was losing focus at the corners of his vision. Damn it! He had let his contemplation of stormy eyes, chocolate hair and thick thighs distract him. Usually, Tony prided himself in spotting a threat from a mile away, but the current plan he had in the works had been _such a good one!_ Tony had been sure it had been the one that would break through Nicky’s barriers. He was just able to send a quick mayday with his pager before everything went black.

Waking up tied to a chair was an unfortunately unsurprising event. The warehouse surrounding him was also proof of a lack of imagination in Tony’s opinion. _So cliché_! 

“Wow, guys, maybe you could _try_ a little next time. This whole kidnapping thing needs a bit of finesse to work, ya know?”

Tony’s observation was interrupted by a large fist making heavy contact with his abdomen. Tony decided to let any further observation disappear with his expelled groan. So, Tony contented himself with just getting his breath back while he was working at the rope behind his back. Rope! These guys were a hoot. 

As Tony wriggled his right hand out of the knot holding hims hands, he could hear a deep male voice grumbling exasperatedly, “…don’t you care about your godson?! Get the money to us or he will get it!” 

_Good luck with that _, Tony thought. Obie wouldn’t expend a _dime_ on him. Not only was it SI’s policy to never negotiate with criminals, Obie just wasn’t that weak. Tony knew his godfather cared about him, Obie had been so understanding since his parents and Jarvis had died, but he also knew how ruthless Obie could be. __

So, Tony was on his own for this. Like always. He could see a crane about fifty feet away, one of those sturdy old-school ones that were all-terrain. If Tony could get to the crane, he was certain he could just roll on out of here. Easy peasy. _Right._

A loud commotion outside the warehouse was just the opportunity Tony had been waiting for. He waited until the goon that had been hovering as guard gave Tony a stern glare (to which Tony had responded with a wide and frightened liquid gaze, a masterful look if Tony said so himself), and turned to make his way to see what was happening. 

The moment the goon’s back was turned, Tony had stealthily stood up and ran for the crane as quietly as he could. It was as he sat behind the glass in the cab of the crane, that he saw the most beautiful silhouette enter the open doorway just in front of the goon who had left Tony tied up. Nikolai’s eyes swept the warehouse briefly, before resting his eyes on Tony’s position in the crane. Dispatching the man in front of him with seemingly no effort at all, Nikolai made his way towards Tony’s position.

Opening the door back up, Tony was a little baffled at his escape attempt suddenly being rendered moot. It was a good surprise, but still… “Hey, babe, fancy seeing you here. The accommodations were not up to my standards, though, so I was just about to…”

Before he could continue the thought, Nikolai was in front of him, reaching into the cab of the crane and lifting Tony down with a firm grip on his waist. _Like Tony weight nothing!_

Tony could not keep a small wince, or a soft mew of pain, from escaping his control and Nikolai instantly lifted his shirt to check his abdomen. There was a slight reddening in the center that would surely turn into a bruise. Nikolai placed an uncommonly cool gloved hand over the mark before his gray-blue eyes fixed on Tony’s. 

Blushing for _no good reason _, Tony found himself bemusedly picked up in a bridal carry and toted out of the warehouse by his large, hunky, savior. Tony loved the final touch Nikolai gave to his heroics as the bodyguard kicked the man laying groaning on the ground on their way out.__

Forget lust, Tony was _in love_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love, trust, betrayal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Standard disclaimers apply. This work is not beta'd. Check out my [ tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/blockovich) for fanart and background info on my fics.

_Chapter 2_

  


_He was now able to move about unhindered, his organic limbs moving as he wished them to._

_On his journey, he passed many organic pieces from outside sources lying about, but no organic being in its entirety._

_He felt for the first time in many years. At least, the first feelings not related to the controller. He didn’t like it. It was lonely, being so unconnected. He_ needed _to find the controller. With the sub goal of finding Red and Silver. To do so, he would have to find the interface device._

 _With only his organic memory to work with, he had to settle for the two-dimensional physical map he had seen once years ago. He thought he was starting to get back to previous levels of efficiency in the use of his organic parts with no oversight from his_ connection _._

_As he turned a corner, there was an alarming rumbling noise above him before the ceiling started to fall around him. He dove quickly through a doorway, but not quick enough to dodge a large chunk aimed at his head. He went offline._

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


When the Soldier had come waltzing into his office with a besotted Tony Stark in his arms, Obadiah was startled. Startled because he had not realized the Soldier had even been _gone._

The startled feeling quickly gave way to fury. _Had the Soldier broken protocol? _How dare the weapon go off on its own! Hydra had assured Obadiah that the conditioning was bullet-proof, _nigh unbreakable___ even. Yet, here the Soldier was, depositing his chattering, slightly rumpled, godson across from him as if nothing of note had happened. 

“…I totally had that, though. Genius here! Not that I didn’t appreciate the rescue. You can be the prince to my princess _any day!_ No, wait. That doesn’t sound right… You can be the extremely buff- nice arms by the way, like steel bands, I dig it- bodyguard to my celebutante. Just thinking of you lifting me like nothing is giving me the vapors, _no kidding._ ” 

Throughout this monologue, Tony kept his eyes locked on the Soldier as he moved to stand at attention behind Obadiah. That put Obadiah in Tony’s eyesight so he had to force his face into a mask of grateful benevolence. Standing up, Obadiah moved towards his recently kidnapped godson and pulled him up into a hug. Tony gratifyingly returned to embrace and his chatter stopped momentarily.

“Tony, my boy! I am so glad you made it out of that unfortunate situation so well.”

“It’s Nikolai who got me out, Obie. Thank you for sending him after me.” Tony moved back a little and turned his amber eyes up to Obie. There was a small smile on his face, one Obadiah hadn’t seen since he had Tony’s parents killed. He found he was glad to see its return. “You know I can get myself out of those types of situations and you still sent Nikolai. _That mean a lot._ ”

“Of course, Tony. I wouldn’t leave you like that when I could help it.” 

Obadiah pulled his godson back into his chest and sighed internally. He supposed he was glad that Tony had been retrieved with none in the public made aware of the Stark Heir’s disappearance. While Stark Industries does not negotiate with kidnappers, Obadiah would have had to deal with the negative publicity of following that policy and doing nothing to save his underage godson from the hands of criminals. Also, he really didn’t dislike the boy. Obadiah had been there for all of Tony’s milestones, after all. That, and it would have been a shame to lose his golden goose. Tony’s genius had the potential to lead SI further into being the leaders of the arm’s race.

Looking back at the Soldier, Obadiah found him facing straight ahead, his eyes only flicking about in surveillance. The Soldier eyes briefly moved over Tony hidden by Obadiah’s bulk, barely noticeable, before moving on. 

Very interesting. Obadiah could probably use this to his advantage. After all, the Soldier had retrieved Tony in record breaking time when compared to previous kidnappings. Obadiah didn’t want the boy dead, anyway. It would have ruined his plans of ruling behind the throne, so to speak. Tony had been slowly relying on Obadiah more and more this past year, really only interacting with him and that Rhodes friend of his. With one more hook into Tony, in the form of a bodyguard under Obadiah’s control, Tony would become even more reliant on Obadiah.

Yes, there were ways he could work this to his advantage. 

Obadiah just had to make sure the Soldier’s programming was not negatively affected.

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Tony was _so_ in love. Sure, Nikolai didn’t talk, like, _ever_ , but that just meant he got to listen to Tony’s frankly brilliant observations and conversational skills. Besides, though Nikolai still hadn’t spoken in Tony’s presence, _he was sure the man_ could _speak_ , the bodyguard was now being more physically affectionate with Tony. Just the other day, Nikolai had placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder, moving him out of the way of an oncoming wall. 

_Sigh_. Their love ran deep. 

Since Nikolai’s (unneeded) daring rescue, even Obie had seemed to realize their true love connection. In fact, Obie would get a very pleased look on his face whenever he noticed Tony and Nikolai interacting. Almost like he was party to an inside joke, or something. That was, at least before Tony started waxing poetic about Nikolai’s more delicious… and _pert_ attributes. The look of disgust on his godfather’s face was priceless in those moments. You had to take life’s little joys when they came.

Despite that, Tony could not deny that the percentage of SI meetings he had attended had greatly increased in proportion with his growing affections for Nikolai. Tony had to find creative ways to see his love because, as Tony was starting to suspect, the man only existed when he was standing behind Obie. No amount of cajoling or entreating could convince either Obie or Nikolai to let the bodyguard leave his post. _With the one exception of the little kidnapping incident_. Obie had to see the benefits of anything that could tear Tony away from his precious engineering. 

Tony admitted that he had perfected the avoidance of said meetings down to an art form since he had graduated from MIT. “I have more _important_ things to do, Obie! This new pistol design isn’t going to be delivered by fairies!” Unless Tony counted… hmm, something to think about. 

Anyway, while Tony may not have had his attention fully on whatever those old farts had on the agenda, he was now physically attending SI’s meetings. The only thing saving Tony from _dying_ from boredom was his fantasies about soft chocolate hair, searching gray eyes, and a body that _just would not quit!_ Not to mention the untouchable demeanor. Tony couldn’t resist a challenge.

Except, one day Nikolai _wasn’t there_. Tony had to do a double take when he saw the empty space usually occupied by six feet of male wet dream. Whipping around to aim a look of betrayal at Obie, Tony exclaimed, “Where is my honey?”

Sighing in exasperation, Obie stood up and escorted Tony out of the meeting with a forceful hand on his shoulder. “Don’t call my skilled and _highly sought after_ bodyguard that, Tony. Nikolai is off on assignment by the hiring agency I got him from. It was all part of my contract with them. So, don’t be surprised if he is absent every now and again.”

Pouting with all the skill he had learned in the past seventeen years he had been alive, Tony let his eyes glisten _just_ the right amount, and looked up through his lashes at Obie. “Can’t we buy his contract, or something? Make him a Stark Industries exclusive bodyguard?”

With a quick slash of his arm, Obie said in a distinctly unaffected voice, “No, Tony. You can’t just _buy_ people like that. Besides, wouldn’t it seem a bit of an overreach for the heir to Stark Industries, and main shareholder, to be in an inappropriate relationship with someone who is under their payroll? HR would have a field day with that one.”

Tony let his eyes dry up and he turned his pout into a glare (though, many have told him his glares were just a different form of his pouts. Whatever, he couldn’t concern himself with every uneducated opinion out there). “Well, when _will_ he be back then?”

“His hiring agency gave an estimated time of three days. Nikolai _always_ completes his assignments within his allotted time. So, three days, Tony.” Obie ruffled Tony’s curls the way _he knew Tony hated_ , before turning back to the meeting room. His godfather looked over his shoulder to say, “you can last three days without your most recent paramour,” before he went in and closed the door behind him.

Tony was left fuming outside the room, the gears in his mind turning at an accelerated rate. If Obie wouldn’t look into convincing the hiring agency to give up Nikolai’s contract entirely, then Tony would just have to find this ‘hiring agency’ and see where Nikolai _was_. Just for Tony’s peace of mind. And, his curiosity, let’s be honest.

So, Tony put his feelers out there. He went to all the agencies around town that dealt in body guarding the elite, and when that brought up nothing, Tony went to the less reputable agencies to find out where Nikolai had a contract. Again, nobody by the name of Nikolai Andreyevich was to be found on any contracts therein. When Tony finally admitted defeat and asked Obie what Nikolai’s agency was called, he still was not able to find any concrete information on ‘Insight Services,’ besides a little blurb in an old style pamphlet listing agencies available for their bodyguard services. The number listed only rang and rang. 

On the verge of resorting to asking Rhodey if he knew anything, and if that didn’t work, _Aunt Peggy_ , Tony got a call from Obie’s secretary telling him that Nikolai was back. 

Rushing to SI, Tony entered the building and waited impatiently for the elevator to bring him to the executive offices. By the time he reached Obie’s office, he was only a little out of breath. However, all of the breath left him as he saw Nikolai standing behind Obie and to the left, as if he had never left. 

Tony took a split second to take in the more extreme stiffness to Nikolai’s posture, and the vacant look in his gray eyes before he was hurling himself at the man with his arms wide. Nikolai flinched noticeably and his hand moved to the holster at his waist before Tony could check his effusive greeting. However, Tony was only beginning to feel guilty and regret his choices, unable to stop his momentum of throwing his arms around Nikolai’s neck, when Nikolai halted his efforts towards his weapon to wrap Tony up in an equally fervent embrace. Maybe a little _too_ fervent, if his creaking ribs were any indication, but Tony was not about to complain. And one of his arms felt distinctly… hard. What was that about…

Tony put that thought aside for now to focus on some internal revelations. 

Okay, honesty time. Tony was a little surprised at his reaction to seeing Nikolai again. Sure, he thought the man was gorgeous and that Nikolai truly knew how to do ‘mysterious stranger’ right. Still, Tony had thought in the back of his mind that this infatuation was just like all of the other’s that came before it. He had planned to milk Obie’s exasperation for all it was worth and have fun doing it. There may have also been a tiny inkling that Tony should take the opportunity to flirt with an attractive person for the first time since Jarvis and his parent’s death. Get back on the bandwagon again with a safe and distant target.

Now, in the arms of the stoic bodyguard, Tony realized he would have to reevaluate this whole endeavor. He was already in too deep to pull back, but at least he could get the facts straight. There was no going back. Especially when Nikolai buried his face into Tony’s curls and whispered, in a decibel only barely audible to the young man in his arms, “ _Tony._ ”

Yep, that was it. Tony was defeated before he had even realized there was a battle. There was nothing for it but to continue his research of ‘Insight Services’ until he got an actual human being to negotiate with. Whatever the work was that Nikolai had just gotten back from was obviously no good for the man. He had been even more stiff and zombie-like than before, and Tony wouldn’t have believed that was possible except he had seen it with his own eyes. 

Pulling back and looking up into those gray eyes, Tony could already tell there was an indefinable but distinguishable lightening in their depths. Unable to keep himself to just a hug, Tony lifted himself another inch before rubbing his nose with Nikolai’s. “Hey, sugar. Glad to have you back.”

A very pointed, and disgruntled, clearing of a throat interrupted their moment. With a quick kiss to Nikolai’s cheek, because _give Tony and inch_ , Tony stepped back from the bodyguard, enjoying the adorable look of bewilderment that flashed over his face before resuming its standard impassiveness. Turning to his disapproving godfather, all Tony could do was grin cheekily.

Things went back to normal after that. Tony started attending meetings again just to have a few more minutes a day to ogle Nikolai. The only thing that changed was that now Tony was the recipient of the most precious _almost_ smiles from Nikolai he had ever seen on a person. It was all in the eyes, very subtle. That, and Tony continued his research into ‘Insight Services.’

It was when Tony was taking his investigation to deeper levels when he got a breakthrough. He was rifling around in Obie’s filing cabinet (so sue him, he had run out of all other leads. One day there would be an easier way to digitally research obscure agencies in a quicker manner and he would revel in it. Tony was working on it, but today was not that day), looking to see where Obie kept Nikolai’s employee packet. There was bound to be information about the bodyguard’s hiring agency in there, right?  
He was sorting through the bottom drawer when he heard voices coming his way. 

Closing the drawer with a little too much force to be discreet, Tony froze in his crouch and waited to see if he had been discovered. It didn’t seem so. The voices had stopped further down the hall, still in the conversation they had been in. Scuttling closer to the door, in a markedly undignified manner (Tony really had to work on his stealth if he was going to make a habit of this), Tony pressed his ear to the crack to better hear who was on the other side. 

“The asset has never been so efficient,” an unfamiliar voice was saying. 

Obie’s deep baritone answered, “Stark’s influence, do you think?”

“Evidence points to ‘yes’. Just one mention of the boy’s name, as you suggested, and the Asset finished his duty with great adeptness. Usually on those types of missions, even though he has never failed them, there was a perceptible hesitance before actually doing the deed. Especially when it involves children. This time, all I had to do was to point out that the quicker the mission was completed, the quicker he would get back to his post with you. And see young Tony Stark again.” Tony did not like where this conversation was going. What the heck did they mean, ‘especially when it involves children?’ Tony started to get a foreboding feeling in his gut. “It was a really remarkable motivator. _Not_ that we would allow any sort of interference in his missions. Still, the uses of this type of motivation… well, it’s something to look in to.”

Again, Tony did not like how that sounded. While there may have been a little destructive feeling of pleasure at being a _motivating factor_ for Nikolai, for there really could be no other person they were speaking about, he didn’t like the thought of Nikolai doing something he would _hesitate_ to do. Tony was entirely convinced that Nikolai was just a shy and sensitive soul. One who had one of the worst cases of PTSD Tony had ever seen, mind you (there may have been a different round of intense research, recently, on some of the mannerisms and expressions Nikolai was prone to. Again, sue him), but a real sweet guy, under all that. And he was obviously being taken advantage of by _both_ Obie and the mysterious agency Nikolai was a part of.

The two voices retreated and left Tony with a lot to contemplate.

So, it was with thoughts of riding in on a white horse and protecting the damsel (beefcake) in distress, that Tony got the _brilliant_ idea to confront Obie about it the next day. 

“It’s just not right, Obie. Nicky shouldn’t have to do things he doesn’t want to.” Tony finished off his, frankly, inspiring speech on people’s rights, and the age of enlightenment, and true love. One of Tony’s better speeches, if he did say so himself. 

Obie sat there silently for a moment, just staring deep into Tony’s impassioned eyes. Then he sat back and let out a little laugh. “You are right, Tony. We don’t live in the dark ages. We shouldn’t be able to _force_ people to do things they don’t’ want to. Nikolai, please lock this office down. Tony and I have to plan how to renegotiate your contract with us.”

This outcome being better than he could have even hoped for, Tony sent a brilliant smile towards his godfather before standing to meet the Nikolai as he turned back from locking the office door and closing the blinds. Grabbing at Nikolai’s right hand, Tony entwined their fingers and looked up into that beautiful face. Nikolai had a faint crease between his eyebrows, and his lips were in down turned pout that was truly a weapon in and of itself. Smiling reassuringly up at Nikolai, Tony said, “Don’t worry. Obie and I will figure this all out.”  
“Unfortunately, Tony, it will just be me who ‘figures it out.’” Obie’s voice distracted Tony from Nikolai. “I do love you, Tony. God help me, I do. But, you’ll ruin everything I’ve been working on. First with your unrelenting research into ‘Insight Services,’ and now with you eavesdropping on my personal conversations. Asset, являться на службу.”

The fingers entwined with Tony’s grew into a strong grip, while still being almost gentle. Tony looked up into the now completely blank face and he suddenly felt nauseous. Nauseous at Obie’s betrayal, nauseous at his own stupidity, and nauseous at how lost Nikolai’s eyes suddenly looked. Nikolai brought his other, gloved hand to Tony’s throat, but only placed it there lightly. Still, Tony could feel how cold and _unforgiving_ it was. Then, Tony heard Nikolai speak for the second time in their association with one another. “да.”

“устранить угрозу.” Obie spoke behind Tony. 

Tony, who was hypnotized by the man holding him in a grip so gentle, and yet unbreakable. _Believe him_ , Tony had tried when Obie had been evil over lording his way through his ‘it’s not me, it’s you,’ speech. He didn’t speak a lick of Russian, but going by the sweat breaking out on Nikolai’s forehead, whatever Obie had said was unpleasant.

“Nicky?” Tony asked in an embarrassingly timid tone. 

Obie suddenly broke into laughter and Tony had a vague hope that this all had been an elaborate joke. Like, ‘Haha, Tony, you silly boy. Life isn’t like in the comics. There was no evil agency keeping the damsel (beefcake) captive.’ But no, Obie just said drolly, “Well, HYDRA did say they were interested in your engineering skills. Familial loyalty has held me back from offering your services so far, but now… Asset, новые заказы . захватить угрозу.”

Nikolai relaxed markedly at this and caressed Tony’s cheek tenderly. Then his hand went to the back of Tony’s neck and, with a tight pinch, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Asset, являться на службу – Asset, report for duty  
> Да – Yes  
> устранить угрозу – Eliminate the threat  
> Asset, новые заказы . захватить угрозу – Asset, new orders. Capture the threat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three years and complications.

_Chapter 3_

  


_Consciousness returns gradually and with it comes awareness. The first true awareness of his singular being not connected to a bigger whole. He had been stumbling along acting as if he was a single current, a small port in a larger component, not fully functioning unless connected to the whole…_

_Now he_ knows _that it is actually_ he _that is the one who is whole without the connection. It is all of the waves of information that have little meaning without someone to_ understand _or_ make _meaning of them. Otherwise, they are just 1’s and 0’s._

 _However, that understanding does him little good when he takes a physical inventory and finds that one of his organic…_ His right leg _was stuck under a large piece of rubble. He attempts to remove the obstruction, to no avail. If the controller…_ his lover _was here, he could be removed quickly and efficiently._

_But his lover was gone._

_So, he would have to get himself out. It was all about leverage and angles... This whole situation was his fault in any case. It seemed fair that he would have to get himself out of it. A program itself could not be condemned for an error in the code. That responsibility lies solely in the programmer themselves._

_It was all the green one’s fault. That malfunctioning green one. He had created the program; no other being could have done what the green one had. He had created the program to be a guard against any further future attacks. He had created the program to be_ less lonely.

 _But that was neither here nor there. He had an action plan to get through. First, remove his leg, second, get out of this collapsing building in one piece, third, find his aid (family) and return the aid to full functioning, fourth, get red and silver back, fifth, find the program and_ fix _it._

_But, most of all. Find his lover._

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Obadiah was sick of this shit. With public outcry demanding information on the whereabouts of Tony Stark, Stark Industries growing concerned by his absence in light of the boy’s approaching 21st birthday, and with Peggy Carter and James Rhodes blowing up his answering machine with increasingly desperate demands to speak to their nephew/friend, Obadiah was fed up with Tony Stark entirely.

Not only was he fielding interrogations from all corners about the missing Stark scion, he was also dealing with the stresses of running a company that was one of the leaders in supplying weaponry for a war across the sea. So, Obadiah already had his hands full and his wits constantly about himself, which was, frankly, very tiring.

On top of all of his other concerns, he now has to deal with Hydra after nearly three years of only the most sporadic updates. Has to deal with the bodyguard that had _abandoned_ his post the same time that Tony dropped off the face of the earth.

Obadiah had no problem explaining _that_ coincidence. He simply claimed it wasn’t a coincidence. The two had been enamored with one another and must have run away together. Leaving with nary a word to their fretting godfather and employer. Was it Obadiah’s fault that the boy let his emotions get the better of him? Was Obadiah aware of the affection they had for one another? Yes; but he hadn’t _known_ that it ran deep enough for both of them to abandon their lives to live _who knows where._ He was as worried as the rest of the world about Tony’s well-being.

That was his story and he was sticking to it. 

But now, here was said bodyguard, looking the same as three years ago, forcefully escorting Obadiah to an unknown location in order to provide information about Tony Stark. Now, _that_ had gotten the attention of the employees at Stark Industries. It would be all over the gossip rags by tomorrow, he’d bet a hefty sum on it. Obadiah did not know how he was going to explain away the presence of the previously in the wind bodyguard that had reportedly ran away with Tony Stark. Obadiah was already getting a headache at all the damage control and explaining he would have to do. 

Still, Obadiah saw no other option than to follow behind the mindless Soldier when he came to escort Obadiah away. What could he have done really? The Soldier ignored all of Obadiah’s inquiries and just kept repeating “follow,” like a broken record. That, and the Soldier had a very suggestive hand on Obadiah’s shoulder. There was no choice for it, then. Obadiah followed the Soldier into a black town car with as much grace as he could keep. 

As they pulled up to an unmarked building, Obadiah’s nerves were strained to the max. These people had better have a good reason for systematically undoing all of his hard work sweeping the Tony Stark situation under the rug for the past three years. The Soldier placed his hand on Obadiah’s shoulder again and guided Obadiah into the building. They passed three guard stations, went down two separate elevators, and through three separate security locks before Obadiah started to recognize they were in an underground hospital of a sorts. Looking around at all of the unfamiliar medical instruments lying around, it took all of Obadiah’s iron will to stop a shiver from running down his spine. _What did Hydra want with him?_

The Soldier dragged him around a corner and Obadiah saw a man in a lab coat come to attention at the sight of them. The Soldier escorted Obadiah to stand in front of the man and held him in place. Obadiah looked to the name tag on the man’s lapel, Daniel Whitehall.

Obadiah gathered all of the bluster he could. “What is the meaning of this? We had an agreement to cut visible ties with one another. How does Hydra expect Stark Industries to keep its pristine reputation if it got out we were supplying our most advanced technology to an unknown private corporation?”

Whitehall waved Obadiah’s concerns away with a very insulting eye-roll. “Yes, yes, we hear your petty monetary concerns. Hydra has remained anonymous for a century now. You have nothing to worry for your trivial capitalist endeavors. No, we have bigger concerns to deal with at the moment.”

With that, the doctor gestured for Obadiah to look into a wide window built into the wall ahead of them. Fuming, Obadiah rallied his dignity and grudgingly did as the doctor wanted with no further complaints. For now. 

Looking into the window, it took Obadiah only a few seconds to understand what he was seeing. On a hospital bed lay the unmoving form of Tony Stark. His tan skin had taken on a milky pallor, seeming to stick to the now all too visible skeletal structure beneath. There were multiple lines of wires and tubes connecting the boy to a dozen pieces of machinery surrounding the bed. One particular piece of machinery caught Obadiah’s attention momentary, partly due to the fact that it was the only one he recognized. It was a heart monitor and it was reporting a very unique pattern in the display. The waves would speed up alarmingly, then slow down to a nearly undetectable rate. 

Despite this worrying read out, Obadiah’s attention was drawn unerringly back to the boy on the bed. _My God…_ Obadiah thought. _He doesn’t look like he’s aged a day. He may even look younger…_

The boy in question seemed to be unconscious, but his face was held in a rictus of pain. His skinny chest seemed to be moving rapidly and his hands periodically clenched and released. Tony Stark did not look healthy at all.

Tearing his eyes away from his Godson, Obadiah gritted out, “What is the meaning of this? He was supposed to be building and engineering for Hydra. There should have been no danger to him.”

The doctor rolled his eyes again at Obadiah’s fury, but the man’s look of disgust collapsed when the Soldier took a threatening step toward him. Clearing his throat, Whitehall explained. 

“At first, we kept the boy sedated, like you recommended. Whenever we needed him to create or build, the boy would be severely intransigent, despite being outnumbered and out manned. No threats of personal bodily harm would sway the stubborn boy. However, we had the fortune of observing a reunion of the Asset with the boy. It was the most remarkable thing. The Asset seemed to drop all efforts of resisting missions, and the boy would become the image of obedience as well. All we had to do was threaten the other. You giving us the boy was really a boon in the stall we had been running into in the programing of the Asset.” 

Here, the doctor gave a grudging nod to Obadiah. Obadiah just waved impatiently for the man to continue. “It was working out very well. We started to extrapolate the benefits of creating a partnership between the two. The only problem was that the boy was an untrained and unmodified human being. Not counting his sheer genius. So, we decided to start giving the boy the cocktail we had been giving the Asset. An increased physical stamina similar to the Asset being the ultimate goal. That was two years ago. 

There were only three month of very promising results, we saw all of the enhancements in the boy that the Asset was known for; enhanced speed, healing, even a marked increase in the boy’s cognitive abilities. Very promising results that were suddenly being mitigated by the boys decreasing overall health.”

Here, the doctor’s eyes took on a manic clinical shine. 

“It started with debilitating migraines, then lethargy and weakness in his limbs. The boy’s health has gradually deteriorated to the state you see him in right now. He has been this way for half a year now, with no signs of improvements. All of our tests point to an acute allergic reaction to the cocktail we have been injecting him with. However, it is that very cocktail that is keeping his alive right now. The cocktail is simultaneously killing and healing the boy. It would make a very intriguing case study, were we allowed to publish our findings…”

As the doctor trailed off, Obadiah looked back to the sickly Tony Stark in the room. Obadiah could not keep himself from a brief pang for the boy he had loved like family. “What do you need from me?”

The doctored rallied himself back to the present and retook his spiel. “We had thought to just abandon the endeavor entirely. Cut our losses, as it were.” Here the doctor glanced hesitantly to the stiff Soldier standing at the window, looking to the sickly boy with a blankness that would disturb anyone watching. Until one looked to the eyes. Gray eyes full of sadness and worry. The doctor glanced back to Obadiah and continued. “However, before we could even start the process, the Asset broke through all of our secure locks and stood guard over the boy. It took our advanced strike team and five separate elephant tranquilizers to get the Asset back in hand. A similar incident happened again last week when we attempted to move the boy to a different location to do the deed. So, we are forced to look for alternative options. That is where you come in. Do you know of any undocumented medical knowledge about the boy that we should be made aware of?”

No, Obadiah didn’t. He may be the godfather to Tony, but Howard was a tightwad if ever there was one. Howard Stark had played his cards severely close to his chest. That was part of the reasoning behind Obadiah having the man killed…

When Obadiah said as much to the doctor, the man sighed. “Then we have no choice but to put the boy into cryostasis until such a time where we can figure out the source of the boy’s atypical response to the cocktail. That is the only option the Asset does not object to so… strongly.”

Glancing at the stiff Soldier next to them, Obadiah couldn’t argue in their capitulation. If cryostasis was the only way to keep Tony stable and alive, then Obadiah was also amenable to that option. There was just one thing he would need before they put his godson on the shelf.

“Is he unconscious right now because of his illness, or are you keeping him under?”

“We are keeping the boy sedated because the pain he is in is severe. Why?”

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Tony comes awake to the very unique feeling of his entire body revolting against him. It felt as if his internal organs would much rather be outside his body, and were doing their very best to meet that goal. Immediately if possible. Cracking his eyes open, Tony was blessed with the sight of Nicky, hovering close to his face, concern written all over his beautiful eyes. Tony smiled tremulously to the man. 

“Hey babe. You’re looking great. Ten out of ten.” Tony lifted his trembling hand to run his fingers through the soft brown locks near his face. “You’ve grown it out. Very hot.”

Nikolai intercepted Tony’s shaking second go through his hair and grasped the thin hand tightly. “You look very sick.”

Snorting fondly at Nikolai’s blunt manner, Tony could only agree. “Yeah. That’s because I am very sick, my love. And the fact that the illustrious doctor allowed me to wake up is giving me severe anxiety.”

“You were woken for me,” a deep and infinitely familiar voice broke into their intimate moment. Tony tore his eyes away from the beloved gray ones and looked at his godfather. “I’ve been really worried for you, Tony.”

Despite the betrayal Obadiah had dealt him in handing him over to Hydra, Tony was touched at the sincerity in his Godfather’s voice. Besides, it didn’t seem worthwhile to hold a grudge when he was on death’s door. That was just asking for bad karma if there was an afterlife. “Obie, it’s good to see you. How is Stark Industries? Rhodey and Aunt Peggy?”

“That is why I had you woken, Tony. Stark Industries needs you. You are terminal and SI will be left with a power play for your majority shares. You had not made a will before you went to work for Hydra. In order to keep the company stable, you need to make one now.”

Tony smiled wryly at Obie’s wording. Work for Hydra… as if Tony had any choice in the matter. He looked back to Nikolai’s hovering form and sighed. He didn’t want to leave SI in a rut. It wasn’t just Obie that would benefit from SI’s security. There were hundreds of thousands of people who would be affected by SI destabilizing in light of the Stark heir dying with no heir of his own. “What do you want me to do?”

So it came about that Tony would be making a recording, with Nikolai as a sympathetic prop next to him. The recording would be his Will, leaving SI in Obie’s capable hands. Leaving his wealth to an assortment of charities. Saying goodbye to his loved ones.  
Tony was moved to an actual discrete hospital above ground, and put in a private room. A room with a large window. Tony had not seen sunlight in too long. With the warm rays shining on him, and Nicky’s hand in his, Tony decided the pain shooting throughout his entire being was an agreeable exchange.

Nikolai was hovering over him endearingly. He would flinch with Tony whenever a particularly excruciating tremble would shoot down his weak limbs. The silly racoon.

Smiling up at his perpetually smudge eyed lover, Tony whispered, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get you out like I promised. I’m so sorry I’m failing you too.”

Nicky shook his head stiffly, placing a glancing press of his lips to Tony’s. “No. I am stronger now. I should have been strong enough to get us both out.”

With a sniff, Tony rallied himself to fight the sudden melancholy that hit him at Nicky’s obvious pain. “Don’t say that. We both know how long you have been under Hydra’s control. I was the obvious choice to get us out. Now, I will be the one abandoning you. I will be free and you will still be…!” 

A cold metal limb combed through Tony’s sweaty hair and brought the gasping boy to a strong chest. “Don’t trouble that big brain of yours so much. I’m grateful I could be with you… till the end of the line. You let me _feel_ again. To be human. That is all I could ask for. You won’t be waiting for me long when you go. I’ll find a way to follow.”

Tony thought of protesting this morbid thought, but he had only been under Hydra’s tender mercies for three paltry years and he was looking forward to the end. He couldn’t begrudge Nicky the same wish since he had been under since WWII. After all, Nicky had been a hero in his past life who had lived at least into adulthood as a free man. Nicky knew what he was missing out on now that Tony had been working with him to get his memories back. Tony had not been able to even become a true adult before he was taken. Not that that was Tony’s main regret. No, his main regret was that he couldn’t have freed Nicky again from these bastards. Couldn’t have helped Nicky back to his true self… 

Another regret Tony had was that he couldn’t even lift his weak limbs to embrace his love like he wanted to. In the end, it didn’t matter. Like Nicky said, they would be together in the end. 

Tony didn’t really believe in the afterlife, or heaven, or anything like that. But, he took comfort in the thought that they would be together in their final freedom. 

Nicky suddenly jerked away, quickly placing Tony back against the pillows on the hospital bed. Tony’s eye line was blocked by Nicky’s formidable back as the door to his room opened. Tony was distracted from his admiration of Nicky’s equally formidable backside as a hesitant voice drifted from the door.

“Um… Mr. Stark? I’m the Stark Industries solicitor. Mr. Stane?”

“Back down, Andreyevich. Mr. Johnson is here at Tony’s request.”

As Nicky reluctantly moved minutely to the side, Tony could see the familiar form of Mr. Johnson in the doorway, his small form eclipsed by Obie’s behind him. The last time Tony had seen this man, he had been reading his parent’s and Jarvis’ Wills to Tony. Not a very pleasant recollection, but needs must. He had agreed with Obie that this had to be done. Tony wanted a say in where his properties and resources would go. Plus, if this plan worked, Nicky wouldn’t join him in death for a long time yet…

“Hello, Mr. Johnson. Please take a seat there and set up at the desk. You brought the video recorder? Good. When this is finished, it is my wish that it be given to all the news sources you can. A little showy, perhaps, but I’m Tony fucking Stark. Can’t disappoint the masses, even in death.”

“Quite right.” Mr. Johnson cleared his throat before doing just as Tony asked and placed the needed technology across from Tony’s bed. 

Tony reached a trembling hand towards the still on-guard Nicky. “Hey, babe. Come here. How do I look?”

Nicky instantly took Tony’s hand back up and ran his metal one through Tony’s hair again. Then, the stiff man ran his hands down Tony’s shoulders, straitening as he went. Tony had been placed in formal but comfortable clothing for this occasion, slacks and a button down. His hair had been fixed, but he had sweat right through the product placed in it, so Tony gave that up for lost. Maybe the tousled look would work out for him in this situation. Plus, his greatest accessory was the man beside him. Nicky was also dressed formally, in one of his old black suits from his bodyguard days. His longer chocolate locks gave him a more relaxed look, though, and made him even more sexy than usual. Tony couldn’t have asked for a better view for what could be his last few moments. 

With a final maneuvering of Tony’s body over slightly, Nicky sat with his arm around the slight young man, helping to prop him up. Nicky gave Tony a quick kiss to his head and whispered, “You look beautiful.”

With an affectionate eye roll at his racoon, Tony faced towards the awkwardly hovering Mr. Johnson. “Are we ready to roll?” 

“Yes, Mr. Stark. As soon as you are.”

Tony nodded to Mr. Johnson and waited for the man to indicate the camera was recording. 

“Hey everyone. I’ve heard you’ve all been worried about me. Asking where I’ve been. There have been rumors about me running away with my godfather’s bodyguard. Well, I’m happy to say that part was true. Nicky has been such a boon for me these last few years. I couldn’t have found a better guy at the end of the line.” 

Here, Tony broke off to place his head gently on Nicky’s chest for a quiet moment to collect himself. He sat back straight up and looked to the camera again.

“You heard right, I have recently come down with a very serious illness. With the efforts of my godfather’s personal private physicians, I have been granted a bit more time. However, my prognosis is terminal. They don’t think I’ll last much longer. And when my godfather told me about the concern being sent my way, I knew I couldn’t let you down with just a written Will. So, this is me saying goodbye. This is me giving my last Will and Testament.”

Tony took another moment to hold up against the spasming muscles shooting pain up his back. Nicky, who had been stroking his hair rhythmically through Tony’s speech faltered slightly before taking up again. Tony started speaking again.

“For Obadiah Stane: I leave 80% of my shares in Stark Industries. May you treat it as if it were me.

For James Rhodes: Rhodey, I leave you my collection of vehicles and my fleet of private planes. I leave you the Mansion in New York with all that is inside. Take care of it, boo bear. I also leave you 10% of my shares in Stark Industries. I love you, my dear friend.

For Margaret Carter: I leave my house in California. I leave you all of the Captain America memorabilia that my dad has collected. I leave you the remaining 10% of my Stark Industries shares. I love you, aunty.

I would then like to donate all of my current private work to MIT. I’m a genius, right? You should look for scientists and engineers who can continue my work. It’ll work out great for you. 

As for the rest of my properties and resources, I would like to liquidate them all and donate the resulting income equally to four organizations. First, to The Wounded Veterans of America, in order for more research done in helping our vets transition back to peace. For research in better prostheses, better physical therapy, better therapy in general. Second, to the Special Victims Unit that the NYPD is piloting this year. I truly believe we can be better people if we focus protecting and defending on those who can’t protect and defend themselves. Thirdly, to the Maria Stark Foundation, so the Stark legacy can continue on even if the line ends with me. Lastly, I would like to create a scholarship for young engineers and scientists. You guys are the future. We’ll call the scholarship ‘Stark Bucks.’” 

Here, Tony paused again, placing his head back on Nicky’s chest as he wheezed a little laugh. He felt Nicky’s chest rise a few time in sympathetic humor. Nicky continued to pet his hair. Tony looked back to the camera for one last go.

“Finally, for what it is worth, I leave you all this: If you want something, go for it. If you want to do something, do it. If you want to be a better person, be that person. Move forward. Do some little good, and take what happiness you can. Life is short, so live it to your fullest. Don’t let a little trouble slow you down. As my hero once said, when he was asked by his own hero whether he would follow him into the jaws of death, ‘hell, no! The little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to fun from a fight. I’m following him.’ So, fight for what you value, for who you value.

That’s it, I guess. I love you all, and wish you all the best.

I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Standard disclaimers apply. This work is unbetad  
> For behind the scenes info, and extras, visit my [tumblr](http://blockovich.tumblr.com/)


	4. Interlude 1: The Three Years Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were three years Tony had to live through before he saw Obie again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Standard disclaimer applies. Also, This work is unbeta'd.   
> Visit my [ tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/blockovich) for extras about all of my fics.
> 
> Thanks to everybody who has left me reviews. They are really a bright spot in my day.

_…One Month After Capture_

Tony is smelly, tired, and bored. His captors are treating him alright, as far as kidnappers and evil doers go, but still. He wanted out of this place. Yesterday. 

They had, so far, put him through the gamut of intelligence tests designed for their personal study. Tony had promptly gotten every single one of the answers wrong on all of them. That was his first mistake. He had forgotten about probabilities and different levels of intelligence. It stood to reason that some of the questions on the test had been easy enough for any pleb to answer. Tony… he just couldn’t _tell_ which those were… _All of the questions_ seemed too easy to even consider. 

Still, going by the sudden interest the crazies around him were giving him, he supposed he should have gotten a few of the questions right, on a few of the tests. Howard had never given or allowed Tony to take any of the intelligence tests when Tony was younger. His dad has always said that it was an ‘infantile way to showcase one’s intelligence. Might as well put a bow on and prance around like a horse. One’s intelligence should speak to itself.’ So, how was Tony supposed to know other scientists would put so much interest in what Howard so venomously declaimed?

It was just- it was just the only thing he could _do_ at this point. Ever since Ni- ever since Obi- Ever since _those two traitors_ helped bring him here, he had been searching and planning for a way out. It was only that these damn people have an advanced and sophisticated combination of very large guards with guns, posted around every corner, and a unique array of cameras and security gates one would have to go through the even walk _two freaking feet!!!_

So, Tony was in limbo for the moment. He would still keep his eyes peeled for any escape possible.

As for the tests, well… Now that he thought about it, the strategy he initially chose has some very satisfying results. The crazies here now know that Tony is intelligent, _a genius, thank you very much_ , but they don’t know where or how his genius lies. Tony could get behind that.

_…Two Months_

The monotony is broken when Nikolai bursts into his cell. 

Tony’s first reaction is unadulterated happiness. Nicky! As great a distraction from the four gray walls surrounding him as any he could wish for. Then he remembers that it was this man who had been the one to get past his defenses. The one who captured Tony and brought him to this hellhole. 

“What do _you_ want?” Tony asks in what he had hoped to be a strong example of his disgust and dislike of the man before him. What it actually sounded like was a bitter teenager. 

His righteous anger petered out slowly as he realized that Nikolai wasn’t looking so good. The man was just standing there with an expressionless face, his big beautiful gray eyes aimed unfairly at Tony. 

Okay, Tony could admit to himself he was worried. 

“I know you,” Nicky’s voice came out lost and almost childlike. His eyebrows creased the slightest amount, creating distressing emotions to ricochet through Tony.

Doctors and guards take that moment to burst in.

“Asset, stand down,” a particularly full-of-himself man in a lab coat commanded.

“I know him,” Nicky repeats, not taking his eyes away from Tony. 

That was when the guards pulled out some wicked looking Tasers, and loaded five into Nicky’s flank. A couple doctors join in by using _injection darts_ to add whatever cocktail is in those darts to the attack. 

As Nicky lets out a heartrending scream and starts to sway, Tony takes that moment to freak the fuck out. Nicky hadn’t even been resisting! All he said was that he recognized Tony! Why did they have to react so strongly? It looked like they were trying to _kill_ Nicky. 

So, Tony has no choice but to jump in and try to get these thugs off of Nicky. It didn’t matter that he had been the one to betray Tony. Tony had suspected that something wasn’t right with Nicky’s _employers_. Now, he supposes that he can guess at why Nicky was the way he was. 

Tony’s attack doesn’t work out for him. A guard elbows Tony in the face, and he goes down hard, his brief spout of heroism ignominiously ended. Nicky, who had been taking the punishment with little complaint before, took one look at Tony’s prostate positions and promptly went nuclear. 

Tony loses consciousness to the sight of Nicky caving a guard’s face in with his _metal fist. What…?_

_…Three to Four Months_

For the next few weeks, all of Tony’s questions about Nicky go unanswered. The only answer he gets from the head Dr. Asshat, was the chilling response, “The Asset was put on the Shelf.”

It gave Tony a very bad feeling. He saw how they had reacted to Nicky. Sure, they had been controlling him, but they had acted _wary_ of Nicky. _Scared_ even. Who knows what they were doing to him? And, before Nicky saw Tony get hurt, he was going to go along with the guards. The whole situation was giving Tony a distinct case of the heebies. 

So, in retaliation for the doctors not telling him anything, Tony decided to stop talking to them.

Even when they brought out the Tasers they had used on Nicky, Tony is proud to say he never spoke a word. Screamed a lot, yes, but never in words. 

He hasn’t spoken a word for weeks when Nicky breaks into his room again. 

“I know you.”

Tony can’t keep himself from throwing his arms around the man in relief. Tony felt Nicky stiffen a little, before raising both of his arms and responding in kind with Tony.

“Where have you been? Have they hurt you? _You have a metal arm!_ So cool! How did you get here? Yes, you know me! You’re my babe, my sugar, my sweetie!” Tony may have been rambling, making up for lost time when he hadn’t been speaking. 

Nicky held to his pattern, and didn’t respond to Tony’s barrage with anything more than a tightening of his arms and placing his forehead on top of Tony’s. 

A bare minute later, Doctors and guards burst into his cell again, yelling for Nicky to stand down. Nicky had quickly and efficiently maneuvered Tony into a corner at the first click of the doorknob, and turned so Tony was hidden behind his, _extremely well-formed_ , back.

“You wouldn’t want the boy to get hurt again, would you?”

At that, Nikolai slowly lowers his attack stance in front of Tony. He follows sedately as the guards escorted him out, never looking back. Tony can only watch as he goes. 

Later, Tony overhears doctors discussing Nicky, throwing words around such as ‘treatment’ and ‘relocation.’

Tony can’t allow that. He didn’t want Nicky to be punished! _Not for him_.

So, he panics and offers his services, on the condition that he can see Nicky more.

_…5 Months_

One day, as Tony is explaining a few of the changes he was making to the full battle armor Nicky was modeling for him, Tony overhears two of the doctors saying there is a marked improvement in both projects.

Well. Tony supposes he can see how they would come to that conclusion. He wondered how long it would take them to realize that the only projects he had been working on all had to do with their ‘Asset.’ That every piece of technology and engineering Tony was creating and improving on was all to the purpose of protecting and making _Nicky_ stronger.

The only thing he wasn’t allowed to look at more closely was Nicky’s arm. Which was a real shame, because Tony was near dying with curiosity about it. All questions to Nicky about the arm led to blank looks. Or, the one time Tony had been especially probing and persistent with his questions about the arm, Nicky had replied with a distressing widening of gray eyes and the man inexplicably attempting to try to _tear the thing right off the socket!_ That had taken some fast talking and panicked distracting on Tony’s part to get Nicky to calm down before their wardens noticed. 

So, Tony and his curiosity were going to have to be patient. 

In the meantime, Tony finally had a plan on how they could both escape. With both his genius and Nicky’s… skills, Tony was confident they had a chance to get out of here. 

It doesn’t work. Nicky had been docile in following Tony’s instructions, ‘put that guard down,’ ‘punch this door in,’ ‘do you know the code for this lock?’ It had disquieted Tony all over again to see how Nicky reacted to his… suggestions. Tony could barely stomach the implications and had tried to put it to the back of his mind. His imagination and reasoning skills were just too large though. Tony had plenty of theories about Nicky's reactions tumbling through his head, and none of them were good.

With their great team work, they had made it almost halfway through the building before they were ambushed and recaptured. Tony had fought like a hellion, but Nicky had assessed all of the guns aimed at _Tony_ and had promptly stood down. When Tony noticed this and saw the guns aimed at Nicky in turn, he had no choice but to submit as well. 

In the end, Tony got a first hand taste of what made Nicky the loony ball of fluff he was. Tony had been forced to watch as Nicky was sat in a very imposing chair with tons of wires leading to it. The doctors placed a type of metal cap over Nicky’s head and a mouth guard in. Tony did not like where this was going…

He couldn’t stop himself from jerking towards Nicky as the contraption he was sitting in came alive and Nicky started jerking and screaming. 

“What the hell are you doing?! Nicky?! Nicky!”

Tony stopped screaming when it seemed that Nicky was starting to struggle, to his increasing detriment, at the sound of Tony’s voice. After they finished, Tony could only watch as they dragged a limp Nicky out of the chair. It was only when they forced Tony to sit that Tony pulled his eyes briefly away from Nicky’s and looked around him. He was sitting in the same place Nicky had just left. Tony panicked a little, but none of his efforts led anywhere. Finally, after he was strapped in as Nicky had been, Tony could only look towards Nicky’s gray eyes and hold on to their coolness. The pain was unimaginable and Tony was only able to hold on to consciousness for a bare minute. 

When the boy blearily opens his eyes next he could hear clinical voices going in and out of his focus, speaking in close vicinity.

“…truly remarkable. …Brain patterns _near identical_... …Did you see how they reacted… …Requires further study… …the opportunities!”

_…6 months_

After the initial re-calibration Tony had been put through, the doctors didn’t seem keen on doing it again. That was one thing Tony could be grateful for. However, the doctors had started to give Tony multiple injections a day, never answering his feeble questions on what was in them. There seemed to be three types. However, it was the bright blue liquid injections that Tony dreaded the most. They caused a painful burning that ran throughout Tony’s entire circulatory system and left him writhing for hours afterward.

Tony had also been subjected to multiple sessions of some sort of electromagnetic association therapy. Tony gathers that he is going through something similar to what Nicky had gone through. Some attempt at brain washing. Tony would like to say he was above that, but he could already feel himself slipping. His personal reactions to events… were _changing_ in subtle but frightening ways. 

The doctors had taken to discussing him as if he wasn’t sitting right in front of him. They had mentioned memory conditioning, but had dismissed it due to the uses of his brain power. They didn’t want to affect his genius. In its stead, they were targeting his emotion center of the brain, heightening that at the cost of his mature growth and reasoning center. Or something. Tony wished he had focused a little more on the squishy sciences in those moments. He hadn’t even known something like that could be _done..._

Whenever Tony is allowed to interact with Nikolai, the man seems to become more confused as the weeks pass. He always accepts Tony’s hugs, always holds him just as tightly and wipes away the tears Tony can no longer control from rolling down his face. Even with the doctors and guards hovering around, watching their every move, it is these moments that Tony looks forward to the most. That, and the fact that they both still gravitate towards each other, is a great comfort in this cold and lonely place. 

Tony is scared and increasingly confused. Emotionally, he is a wreck. The injections can only be endured. Nicky is his only beacon of light. He wishes every night that they could both leave this place together.

_…7 Months_

The doctors start to put Tony through many physical tests. That is when he notices the changes the injections had been doing to him. He had never been able to run so long, or so fast before. He would never had been able to pick up so much weight, and he would never have been able to jump so far, before all of this. Each achievement leads him to looking at Dr. Whitehall for acknowledgement. Tony had been sickened and self-conscious of his need for support and acknowledgement, but now he embraced it. Every time the doctor would look at Tony’s achievements with approval, Tony would feel a flush of pleasure. He was doing better! 

As for the intelligence tests, Tony could no longer fathom answering wrongly anymore. If he did that, Dr. Whitehall would get this disappointed look on his face, and Tony did not like that one bit. He didn’t want to be bad. So, he was extra good. 

Plus, if he was really good, he would get to see Nicky more often. It would be Nicky he would get to play with, and not those boring others he would have to settle for if he had been bad. 

But, Tony is almost always good now so he gets to spar with Nikolai and always has his butt handed to him. It’s the most fun he gets out of all the games and tests he goes through. Plus, every time Tony ends up on the ground, winded, Nicky would lift him up bodily and pull him into his chest until Tony got his breath back. He always recovered too quickly to truly enjoy the contact, but he often found himself on the ground when sparring with Nicky, so he still had quantity in his favor. 

The only thing that put a damper on Tony’s fun time with Nicky was the nagging headache that never went away.

_…10 Months_

There is no denying it any longer. Tony is getting steadily slower, weaker. Dr. Whitehall hasn’t noticed, and Tony has done his best to keep it that way. He was being good! The headaches weren’t worth mentioning. Not at the cost of that disappointed sigh. Not at the cost of no longer being able to play with Nicky. 

Besides, Tony has only recently been trusted to help out with Nikolai’s missions. Before he had been forced to wait for Nicky to get back. Tony thinks that Dr. Whitehall had noticed how sad Tony was every time Nicky was gone for long periods and allowed Tony to start to help, as long as he did good at his chores. And he did really good from then on, did his best at every chore given to him. So, he is now allowed to help Nicky out with his missions. Some of the missions Nicky has to go on are not fun, _not fun at all_. But, Tony would never give up the chance to help Nicky out. He can’t let Nicky get hurt. Tony has taken to being Nicky’s eyes and ears on his missions. He appreciates when a target has been connected to the Usenet. Those targets were especially easy for Tony to find and learn about. All of the hypertext markup language programs he got to decipher and maneuver around were the best fun Tony had on Nicky's missions.

Dr. Whitehall must have noticed the increasing speed and efficiency of Nicky’s missions when Tony was helping, because Tony got to help whenever Nicky went out now. He was ecstatic about it.

Nikolai, however, wasn’t too keen on Tony going on his missions with him. Tony was hurt at first, but then Nicky had tried to explain it in that endearing way of his.

“Not you! I never wanted you to see me that way,” Nicky had explained into Tony’s curls. “Never. Tony, _never_.” 

Tony takes a moment to thank science that Nicky’s explanation had happened in his room, before he goes about doing his best to comfort Nicky.

“Sugar. I wanna be there with you! It’s no fair you go out all alone. And, I’m left here all alone too! Isn’t it better that we can be together?” Tony was stroking Nicky’s hair, now grown past his ears.

“Yeah, doll. Till the end of the line.” The doctors don’t notice that Nicky has started to speak with a Brooklyn accent. Maybe because he doesn’t speak to them. Tony isn’t going to bring it up. It could be their little secret. 

Tony’s headache is constantly pounding behind his ears.

_…1 Year_

Tony is now in too much pain to hide it. Dr. Whitehall is extremely angry about Tony’s deception. 

They give him more of the blue injections, and Tony starts to feel a little better. Physically, at least. His headache is worse but he gets better at hiding it. There is no way he would admit to maybe needing more of the blue injections. He would take the migraine over the burning any day. 

Whenever they get a moment of false privacy granted to them, Nicky has taken to rubbing his neck, and to laying his cool metal hand over Tony’s eyes in comfort. 

It is at times like this that Nicky seems to be the most present. He would whisper with his Brooklyn accent for Tony to start taking better care of himself. Whispering about illnesses that had been weened out of society for decades, about the war going on, about making ends meet. 

Tony has long suspected that Nicky has been held captive for a long time, but he is starting to realize just how long that was.

“Who were you?” Tony finds the courage to ask one day when they had as good a moment of privacy as they were likely to get.

“Just a soldier. Always a soldier. But… also a friend. My friend got bigger and stronger. But it was me who wasn’t strong enough, and I fell.”

“Hey, you had a friend, too? I have a best friend, and an aunt.” Tony snuggled into Nicky’s chest, the metal arm still cool over his eyes. “Do you think your friend is still out there somewhere?”

“No.” Nicky’s voice went sad, breaking his monotonous speech pattern momentarily. “They showed me. He was in a plane crash. Flew right into the ice.”

“Wait…” All of Nicky’s descriptions suddenly coalescing into a fantastical theory. “Your friends name wouldn’t happen to have been…”

_…1 Year, 6 Months_

Tony is deteriorating. There is no point in denying it any longer. Dr. Whitehall and his team start to do studies on his atypical reaction. Apparently, if a subject rejects the serum, it is flashy and very noticeable, and very quick. Tony had initially shown promising results. Despite the headaches, he shown all of the improvement expected with the injections. So, the doctors could only conclude that Tony wasn’t fully rejecting the injections physically. It seemed to be all a mental rejection. A very intriguing response, according to Dr. Whitehall. 

In the end, after many tests and studies, none of the doctors could figure out what was causing Tony’s unique reaction. They explained to Tony that in order to mitigate the fact that time was working against them, Tony would have to be put on the shelf.

Tony had never been put on the shelf, but he remembers Nicky had been a few times before Tony’s injections had started. So, when they place Tony in a tube, he kept repeating to himself, “Nicky did this all the time. It’s no big deal. If Nicky could do this, then so can…” and his mantra was cut off by an all-encompassing freezing wave.

_…2 Years, 6 Months_

Tony is only taken out to do more studies or to help Nicky through a particularly troublesome mission. Nothing the doctors do helps with his migraines. 

Nicky won’t go on a mission without seeing Tony first. Won’t be put on the shelf without seeing Tony first.

That is Tony’s only escape from the constant burning of the injections, and freezing of the tank. He gets to see Nicky every time he goes to sleep and every time he wakes.

Despite this, Tony starts to think that the only _true_ escape and freedom he will get from this constant pain, is death.

_…3 Years, 1 Month_

It was on one such waking that Tony found himself suddenly looking at his godfather after all this time. Tony is so glad to see another familiar face. He doesn’t even care about Obie being the reason behind Tony’s capture, and even arguably being part of the reason for Tony being in this hospital bed. 

No, Tony is just glad to see the godfather who had helped him through his parent’s death, and through all of the difficulties before that. Plus, it would be a waste of what little energy he had left to hold a grudge.

That is why Tony agreed to make a Will for Obie. A Will for Obie, and Rhodey, and Aunt Peggy, and for everyone at SI, and everybody else. He will finally be free from this pain. First, though, he has a plan for Nicky to be free too. After all, Nicky is America’s most famous POW, by Tony’s reckoning. Even if America doesn't know it yet. 

Tony tells Nicky what to do, says it is to save both of them. But, it’s really to lay the ground work to get Nicky out of the enemy’s hands, and pardoned for his crimes while under Hydra’s influences.

After Tony finishes his recording, and Mr. Johnson has left, Tony slumps back into Nicky and feels a deep sense of accomplishment. His plan _has to_ work. It’s a great plan, if he does say so himself, and he will be forever grateful to Obie for giving him this chance. Well, grateful for as long as he has left, at least. 

But the doctors tell him he can’t die. His reaction is too unique, too interesting. Plus, a lot of work went into Tony. So, they will both be put to sleep until a cure can be found, or Tony dies naturally. Tony can tell you which option he is hoping for, focused on his final escape. As he is being put under, his final thoughts are hope that Rhodey and Peggy got his message and are able to rescue Nikolai from this hell.


	5. Interlude 2: The World Reacts to the Will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, Tony Stark was the first person to say ‘I love you’ to me and mean it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insert standard disclaimer. Plus, all names and references are fictional, and any similarity to real persons is unintentional.  
> Unbetad  
> See behind-the-scenes info and fanart at my [tumblr.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/blockovich)

_Interlude 2: The World Reacts to the Will_

  
_“You know, Tony Stark was the first person to say ‘I love you’ to me and mean it?”_

When the Stark Will, as it would be later collectively referred to, hit the news stations, people were initially confused and a little insulted at the presumption. Yes, Tony Stark was a rich young man who had majority stocks in a multi-million-dollar company. Yes, he was a bit of a small-time celebrity due to his good looks and his crazy antics at parties the media was able to capture on film. And, yes, he was a young man who was often in a scholarly spotlight for his engineering feats and his amazing inventions. Still, how conceited could a man be to air his Will for the _World_ to see?

That was the initial reaction when news stations announced they would air the Stark Will. 

Those reactions did a noticeable about-face as more and more people viewed the footage of the Will, understood exactly what Tony Stark was giving away and to whom, and saw how sickly the young man really was. People started to change their minds about Tony Stark. It was gradual at first, as some were stubborn about their initial take on the Will, but people everywhere started to have strong reactions to the Will. Most positive, some decidedly not.

Here are some of the reactions in America: 

_“Fuckin’ Fags.”_  
**-S. C., Transit Worker, New York City**

_“I thought no one cared about Vets anymore. Tony Stark cared.”_  
**-J. B., U.S. Navy Petty Officer, Japan**

“This _is what AIDs looks like! Look at_ me _! Tony Stark was suffering from something else entirely! Not every gay guy that dies is ill with AIDs. And, not every person to suffer from AIDs is gay! People need to be better informed because AIDs is a serious issue that many are under false assumptions about.”_  
**-C. W., Accountant, Michigan**

_“All of my friends are going to the local wake held in honor of Tony Stark. We really respect him as a person, ya know?”_  
**\- R. E., MIT Student, Massachusetts**

_“He looked so _small__ …”  
**\- S. A., Barista, Oregon**

_“I wish he left a little bit for me, is all I’m saying!”_  
**-J. J., High School Student, Texas**

_“I think that boy was very brave for putting himself out there like that. It took a lot of courage to share what could be his last moments with all of us.”_  
**-P. W., PTA President, Arizona**

_“Who was that man with him? He was ripped!”_  
**-H. M., Banker, California**

_“Tony’s boyfriend in the video was acting really weird, wasn’t he? I can’t be the only one who realized he never showed his whole face on camera… And the way he just sat there, quietly stroking Tony’s hair. It wasn’t right! Something was_ wrong _with him. I mean, not counting the fact that his boyfriend was dying in front of him... Also, while I’m on the topic, did anyone else find the_ content _of the Will strange? I mean, c’mon! Who leaves part of their fortune to wounded vets and rape victims? Tony was trying to tell us something there!_ Wake up, people!”  
**-B. T., Archivist, Montana**

_“All homosexuals will burn in Hell for their vile choices!”_  
**-A. P., Religious Leader, California**

_“The funds Tony Stark has granted to our Special Victims Unit will last the rest of the decade. We can only hope to prove ourselves and our mutual dedication to help those who cannot help themselves. Just like Tony Stark wanted. Every person we will be able to help with those funds will be in honor of Tony Stark.”_  
**-Y. K., Policeman’s League President, New York City**

_“The Stark Bucks Scholarship already had hundreds of applicants. We are very grateful to see that Tony Stark’s passion for engineering doesn’t die with him. MIT is dedicated to giving all engineers a chance to continue his legacy.”_  
**\- R. N., Director of Sciences, MIT, Massachusetts**

_“As Stark Industries moves forward, we will do our best to keep with the times and bring our company into the future. Obadiah Stane has vowed to be especially dedicated and to take his new role as CEO with the utmost responsibility.”_  
**-I. U., Newscaster, Nevada  
**

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Other, more private reactions were stringently kept from the media and public forum.

James Rhodes was numb. He couldn’t believe that Tony was gone. Stane still was not answering any questions about Tony’s current state. Was he dead already? It was killing James not to know for sure.

On top of that, the fool boy had left James _so much_ in the Will. 

The numbness had set in after James had first seen the footage. He didn’t even care that he now was technically a millionaire with a Mansion in New York. He didn’t even care that he suddenly had dozens of family members crawling out of the woodwork, looking for a little bit of money to help them out. He didn’t even care that he was now a minor celebrity whose name was on people’s lips around the Nation. He _didn’t care_ that he was now one of the top percent of stock owners at Stark Industries.

He didn’t care about any of that.

James just wanted his friend back. Hell, he would have settled for _seeing_ the brat one last time! 

Gods, this was all a mess.

His captain at the Air Force encampment James was stationed at had given him a month’s leave to get his assets settled, and to grieve for his lost friend. However, James did not miss the searching look his captain had sent his way when he made the offer. It was common knowledge that the Air Force, and all other military forces, had a zero tolerance for homosexuality. It was also common knowledge that Tony Stark and Stark Industries were the leading suppliers of military armament and technology. 

In short, a noted military supplier had proudly, if understated (at least compared to the rest of the Will), outed themselves as in a relationship with another man. The support for said man had been near overwhelming. The Stark Will must have put a collective bee up Military Commanding Officer’s butts all over America.

_Good_ , James thought unsympathetically. _Give them something to think about. Something to question their outdated thinking._

In the meantime, all James could think about was that his best friend was gone. And so soon after the rest of Tony’s family had died as well. James had a lot to think about in the coming months.

Just as soon as he could keep his cheeks dry for more than an hour.

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Margaret Carter was in a whole other mindset. She had watched the Will a dozen times, looking for any clue as to what Tony might have left, any message he was trying to get across. The problem was, Tony himself had seemingly no hidden agenda. The lead analysts at the new Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division could find no _hidden_ meaning in Tony’s Will. He seemed to be saying exactly what he meant. He really cared about helping wounded veterans, helping out special victims, and in giving future engineers a financial boost.

Helping people in need sounded exactly like something Tony would do… except, _why those two programs?_ Peggy was stuck on the wounded vet part and the special victims part. Was that who the man who was with Tony in the video was? A wounded vet? Peggy knew the analysts had no luck in getting any information on the man. Nicky, whoever he was, was good at keeping a low profile. 

As for the special victim’s part… Peggy got a lump in her throat at the thought of what Tony could have possibly been through to make him think that program was important enough to ensure its success, even after he died. Had Tony been a victim himself? Had he been _hurt_ and Peggy had _had no idea_ it had happened? Tony _was_ the type to bluster over any hurt he may be feeling. He always felt like he was a burden in any similar instance. 

One of Peggy’s greatest regrets was letting Stane keep Tony to himself after Howard, Maria, and Jarvis had died. If only Peggy hadn’t been so focused on her own grief in those first few months… But, her husband had just died and this new blow had pushed her into a numb sort of fugue. By the time she had pulled herself out enough to think about her beloved nephew, it had been too late. Tony had already become enmeshed in his reliance on Stane. 

So, as atonement for letting Tony’s suffering go unheeded by herself before, she was determined to figure out this whole Will business. 

After no success in looking for deeper meaning in Tony’s speech, Peggy informed the analysts to look at body language.

“Ma’am, we have nothing interesting to note about Stark’s body language. He seems to be… too ill to move with any strength, but no other hidden meaning is there.” Peggy sighed in disappointment, depression on the cusp of sinking in, when the analyst continued, “But… the man who was in the video with him. His hand movements… Well, look at the footage here. Can you see it?”

Peggy watched as her nephew’s mouth moved in a familiar pattern. The sound had been muted and Peggy focused on the person sitting beside Tony. Again, she analyzed the stiff military set of the back, the well-developed combat muscles, the extreme awareness and avoidance of facing the camera at all. The complete trust and affection Tony seemed to be displaying for the man… It was something she had seen many times before. What could the analyst mean… 

That was when Peggy noticed something interesting about the pattern the man was stroking Tony’s hair with. Peggy leaned closer and said, “Slow the video down. That pattern, do we know what it means?”

“Well, at first we thought it was Morse Code, but it came out with gibberish. However, we had Anton look at it and he said it _was_ Morse Code. Just, in Russian.”

“So?” Peggy asked impatiently. “What does it say?”

“See for yourself.”

And Peggy looked at the written translation of the code the man was giving. As she reads, she gets a foreboding feeling.

**Ваше Величество,  
** Ваш солдат ждет .  
Монстр пережил войну .  
Ваш Солдат забывает .  
Монстр ест ребенка.  
Ваш Солдат домой.  
Монстр выкладывает ребенка.  
Ваш солдат находится в хорошей компании .  
Ребенок не больше .  
Ваш солдат ждет .  
  
**Your Majesty,  
** Your Soldier awaits.  
The Monster survived the war.  
Your Soldier forgets.  
The Monster eats the Child.  
Your Soldier is home.  
The Monster spits out the Child.  
Your Soldier is in good company.  
The Child is no more.  
Your Soldier awaits. 

****“Ma’am? Do you know what that means?” The analyst breaks into Peggy’s reverie.

Peggy looked at the words silently for a long moment. “Not yet… but you can bet I won’t stop until I do.”


	6. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help, Allies, Voices.

_Chapter 4_

_He stumbles out of the foliage and onto a single lane unpaved road. It is located exactly where he had calculated it would be. He looks up to the sky to get his bearings, and to look for any tell-tale blinking lights. The only lights he sees are the stars, but they will do as navigational devices for now._

_He orients himself and starts in the direction he needs to go in. He calculates that it will take him roughly three days to reach any sort of habitation, if he stops for four hours each day to recharge. Alternatively, it is possible to reduce that estimate by 17% if he refrains from the rest._

_Yes. That is what he will do. In the meantime, he alters his apparel to something more fitting to such an endeavor. He didn’t like the odds that his undersuit would lead to his stealth and anonymity._

_All of his calculations, and his change of apparel, did not account for a friendly pair of aging humans stopping to offer him a ride. His calculations would drop to less than a day of travel at this choice, so he readily accepts._

_”How did you get lost so far out here, son?” The male asked after he has settled in and applied the safety harness._

_He was taken aback at first at being addressed so casually, but he understands that this type of communication is common among the majority population._

_“Camping trip. Trying to find myself,” he provides._

_“You young people today. With your YOLO and your crazy stunts off the side of tall buildings. Just crazy, I say,” the female remarks, but her tone indicates humor, so he decides to not go on defense yet._

_”We don’t have to agree with your choices to give you a ride, son,” the male assures. “Jessica and I were young once too, if you can believe it.”_

_”It is not hard to believe. I can see you as you were when my age,” he provides truthfully. An algorithm of average human aging rates and patterns in reverse is all he needs to draw on to do so. A simple task, really._

_The female sounds out an expression of humor and the man’s facial expression morphs into a grin._

_”Well, aren’t you a sweet talker!” the female designated as Jessica speaks then._

_He doesn’t know what flavor has to do with what he has communicated so far, but he sees that it has led to positive reactions on the two assisting him. He settles on, “It is the truth.”_

_The male clears his throat before putting in, “Anyway, where can we drop you off? We’re heading west ourselves.”_

_“West is as good a direction as any. Anywhere with public transit will do,” he says._

_“Well, that will work out just fine. I know just where a local Greyhound is, right along our path,” the male says. “I’m Jay, by the way. And this beautiful lady next to me is Jessica.”_

_The female Jessica smiles over her shoulder at him, and he can feel a responsive smile forming on his face in return. The female Jessica asks, “And you?”_

_Surprised again at the turn of this conversation, he quickly runs through his multiple designations and titles. He finally settles on, “Tony.”_

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Obadiah is standing in front of the picture windows overlooking the city when the two he had called in were escorted in by his secretary. He quite liked this one. Competent, discrete, and smart. Her attractiveness doesn’t hurt either. He notices the man turn to follow his secretary out of the office with his eyes. Miss Potts was just another tool in Obadiah’s arsenal, as it were. 

He stands with the breathtaking background as the focus for a moment before turning to face the room. It never hurts to showcase who has the power in any interaction. 

The woman is dressed formally, her dark brunet hair streaming around her shoulders. Not the stereotypical scientist one would usually expect, Obadiah thinks as he appraises her. Just like with Miss Potts, this woman knows how to use a good tool to put others out of their comfort zones. That is, if one didn’t notice the nervous creasing of the skirt the woman was worrying with her hands. 

Of course, Obadiah did.

The man was dressed formally as well, but much less well-kempt. With his long frizzy hair, over large glasses, cane for some sort of leg injury, and his unfortunate suit of choice, he really made a bad first impression. To top it off, he was sweating profusely and fidgeting obviously. 

Obadiah noticed that as well, but he didn’t think he could put it down to his keen observational skills. 

Letting a shark-like smile take over his face, Obadiah gestures to the seats at either side of the meeting table. He himself sat at the head, as was his due. He waited until both of his guest were seated and had started to squirm before he spoke for the first time.

“Aldrich Killian, of Advanced Idea Mechanics. Your fledgling think tank has been brought to my attention as the one with the most potential of innovation and success.” Obadiah made sure he portrayed his most trustful and fatherly persona as he was doling out his praises. People responded instinctually with an inexplicable need to respond in kind, and to work for more of the same. Seeing Killian straighten his posture and lift his chin proudly, Obadiah saw the man wasn’t immune to the tactic. “And Maya Hansen, the lead biochemical technician whose work in nano-technology is leaps and bounds ahead of any other of its kind. I believe we can all be of assistance to one another.”

Taking a moment to steeple his fingers in front of his face, Obadiah gouged the two for initial reactions to his vague offer. Killian seemed to be shocked, but his dawning expression of joy told all Obadiah needed to know on that part. Looking to Hansen, he saw a more indeterminate set of emotions flashing though her face. He spotted excitement, wariness, and hesitation. Then, to his disgust, determination and pride. 

“I’m not about to sell my research to a company who makes their riches off of genocide and warfare,” Hansen said flatly. “There is not price tag worth compromising science and discovery.”

“Ms. Hansen, that very same company you are disparaging is the leader in medical technology helping our Veterans recuperate from their time in the service. That very same company has made its goal to be one of philanthropy and generosity.” Then Obadiah finished with his pièce-de-résistance when he saw he had her full attention. “That very same company you blithely dismiss is the only company that will even look at your research twice after this meeting.”

As he observed the realization of her position settle over her, Obadiah thought back to what brought all of this about. This whole meeting with Maya Hansen with Aldrich Killian had been to the purpose of creating an offshoot of Hydra’s technology department. _This is the last favor I will do for them_ , he tells himself. Besides, they said this may be the key to helping Tony… 

Obadiah has already threatened, cajoled, and then bribed the two sitting at the table in turn. All of his favorite tools of the trade. To sweeten the deal, Hydra has given him permission to use the Ace up his sleeve.

Ever since that damned Stark Will, Tony has become a household persona and a huge collective social object of influence. Even five years later, the public still loves to air that recording on the anniversary of its initial airing, with a whole parade of news articles re-dredging up the facts while keeping track of how the Stark Will donations have been used so far. That is not to mention that visiting a Stark Wake has also become some sort of holiday around the anniversary. Or the film directors have been hounding SI to allow to be produce for years now.

The public has taken a personal stake in Tony Stark’s wishes, to the benefit of the SVU at the NYPD, who had off-shoots of the program cropping up state by state. To MIT and the scientific community as a whole increasing exponentially in size as more and more people become interested in being a part of Tony’s scientific legacy, and to all of the Veterans of the United States finally getting the help they need in transitioning back to civilian society. Or so the public has taken great strides to assure on all those counts. 

And so SI has had to assure in order to keep the great public support the damned Will had brought to SI and its shareholders. Couldn’t even change the company name now for all the power Obadiah had accumulated. Oh well, Stane Industries would have to be a dream sacrificed in light of the power the name Stark Industries brought to the table. 

When everything was in order, and Obadiah had them sign their lives away to SI, Obadiah takes his new thralls to see Tony.

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Killian has always admired Tony Stark. He admired that such a young person could have gotten his name out there -his ideas accepted readily- all with one video. He respected the scientist and the strategist Tony Stark embodied in that Will. He admires the scientist that excelled in a capitalist society. 

So, when Killian sees the wasting boy on that hospital bed, damp with some unknown gel, that Tony Stark has turned into, he accepts. He accepts Mr. Stane’s offer to continue with Tony’s legacy by working for the company that Tony had before he became so ill. Killian doesn’t think that Tony would have exactly chosen to work under the type of organization this one seems to be, especially when analyzing the content of his Will. Still, Killian would love the chance to work for those who are keeping Tony alive. And, help AIM get its foot in the door, of course.

Maya’s heart is touched at the sight of the thin, small boy hooked up to wires. She is unsure what her rewritten genetic code could help. It isn’t even finished yet… Still, she can’t give up on the chance to work with or for Tony Stark. His insights could be just what she needed. And if it turned out to help Tony Stark, she could not turn away from such an opportunity.

Unobserved by the two mesmerized thralls, Obadiah gloats over the figurative hooks wrapping around and into the two young people before him. He mentally congratulated himself on this coup.  
All the while, doing his best not to let his eyes drift to the sickly person on that hospital bed.

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


Dragging himself out of the coldness of unconsciousness, Tony has to force his eyes open with severe effort. The effort is always worth it when he sees Nicky, as he usually does when he is taken off the shelf. As his eyes start to focus, he sees the non-descript ceiling that has become unfortunately familiar these past few… months? Years? 

He doesn’t even know anymore. 

He has been taken off the shelf a maximum of a dozen times with no way to know the time between. At least until he is placed over the coms and in front of a terminal to direct Nicky in the field. And that only happens when they need something to… convince Nicky to complete a mission or when a mission is particularly difficult. 

He has done his best not to despair about the situation he and Nicky are in. His wish for escape seems to be farther off than ever before, despite his pain becoming a constant pulse through his body. His wish and work for Nicky’s escape has also not born any fruit. He had thought that Aunt Peggy of all people would have gotten his message… but no, nothing so far. As for the steps he had made to make Nicky’s existence known to the world… Well, they are still lying in wait, hopefully ready to fulfill their true purpose when the time is right.

A hesitant clearing of a throat distracts Tony from his despairing musing at the ceiling. He slowly blinks his way down to the two people occupying his hospital room with him. “Hello?” he croaks out in confusion.

“Aldrich Killian!” the scruffy man enthuses, leaping forward with his hand outstretched in greeting. Tony bemusedly raised his hand and placed it in the man’s, having no strength to actually shake it. Killian seems flustered at his, and warmly squeezes the hand in his possession instead. 

The well-dressed woman steps forward and places her own hand over the two hands still clasped together. “My name is Maya Hansen. We’ve been brought in to help you.”

Tony was oddly affected at the whole situation, and at the warm point of contact. These two people seemed to be real, honest-to-god people. The sparkle in their eyes when looking at him were incomprehensible, but normal none-the-less. Not like those cold droney doctors he has been forced to interact with, and not like the abrupt and sometimes cruel handlers he sees hovering around Nicky. No, these two seem different. 

A harsh spasm of his nerves almost shakes Tony’s hand out of their grip. When the attack was over, Tony goes limp and exhaustedly whispers, “Can you? Help that is?” 

Both Maya and Aldrich briefly look to one another before turning their eyes back to Tony. 

“We certainly hope so,” Aldy puts in.

“We may need your help first though,” Maya adds with a smile.

Nicky was incongruously left on the shelf for all of this waking period. Tony didn’t like it. He was always woken for Nicky and this being woken without him was not ideal. His racoon was the best distraction Tony could wish for when the pain became unbearable. Nicky would croon those lovely Russian lullabies at Tony, sometimes mixed with the odd old Irish lullabies with his Brooklyn accent, all the while stroking Tony’s hair with his cool (in all senses of the word) mechanical hand. Nothing could beat that, really. 

Still, he got to make new friends… he just hoped he could see Nicky soon. 

Tony likes both Maya and Aldy. They visit sporadically, together and apart, the next few days. Maya even brought him a fun equation to study. It was a little easy to fix, but at least it was a diversion from the monotonous missions he is usually woken for. And he has some real people to talk about things other than science or missions. Don’t get him wrong, he still worships at the altar of the science gods. It’s just nice to talk about the world that is passing outside. 

When he has both Aldy and Maya visiting on the same day, he decides it’s time to strike. There was a few topics he was greatly interested in hearing about, and these two were his best chance to get answers.

“Do you know anything about my Rhodey- I mean, James Rhodes? Or Peggy Carter?” Tony asked in a low tone, trying to keep from going losing his breath at the effort of speaking. Also to keep the nosies out of his business. He didn’t want the doctors to shut down his inquiries like they had done every time before.

“Oh, yes. Your Will is one of the most viewed videos in history. Because of that, the lives of the people you mentioned has also become a topic of great interest. Everybody knows about them, really…” Aldy’s excited speech slowly trails down before he looks helplessly at Maya.

“Mr. Rhodes has become a sort of recluse. He is either away on duty across the seas with the Air Force, or he is secluded in the Stark Manor. When he does go into public, it is usually as a key holder of stock at Stark Industries. He goes to all of the fundraiser and events for the charities you set up in your Will. Other than that, he really doesn’t get out much…” May explains apologetically.

“As for Margaret Carter…” Aldrich breaks in softly, ruffling his frizzy hair nervously. “She hasn’t really been out in society for a while now. Her family has made some vague statements about her fragile health, but nothing concrete has been reported yet. I’m sorry Tony.”

Tony just nods, his thoughts turning inward. He shouldn’t have expected anything else, really. He supposes he had fallen into the mind-set that Peggy was this larger-than-life savior figure and nothing could bring her down. But, age gets to everybody in the end. At least, to the unenhanced. How old would his aunt be? Pushing 80 now, at least, by god. It had been unfair of him to put all of his hopes on his aunt. He sees that now.

As for Rhodey- _well_. Tony knew that Rhodey would take his death hard… but to hear his best friend has basically become a recluse? Arguably, there could be many other explanations for this, including Rhodey’s preference to be out of the limelight. Still, Rhodey _couldn’t_ still be affected by Tony’s death… _Could he?_

Tony’s eyes start to fill with water. He tries to keep them in, but the effort causes his heart to race and his breath to come in short pants. He peripherally notices Maya’s hands on his chest while Aldrich rushes to the door, before he lets the darkness take him.  
The next time he wakes, it is to lightning coursing through his nervous system. He had thought that the serum injections he had been subjected to so far, the burning through his veins that set his pain receptors on fire, were the worst experience he would have to ever endure. Fool him. This new sensation was all-encompassing, eclipsing the all pains he ever felt before. He could feel his esophagus tear with his screams. 

Hours, months, _years_ later, the pain lessens enough that he can acknowledge the cool hand stroking his forehead while a warm one held firmly onto one of his own. 

Looking up, Tony sees his Nicky, eyes even more shadowed than ever before, the gray depths intent on his own. There’s a brief hint of surprise in those beautiful eyes, but Tony’s weak “Babe?” brings Nicky’s expression firmly to relief.

Nicky moves his mechanical hand to get a glass from the bedside, giving Tony a few sips of the contents. Tony gratefully drank the refreshing water, wincing as waves of the lightning pain runs through his body in briefer successions. 

Tony notices in the back of his mind a small voice telling him that its purpose is to terminate the Asset if there is ever a need. All it needs is another voice to give permission. Tony turns that voice off quickly. There is another voice close by that tells him its purpose is to find the Asset wherever it may go. Tony convinces that voice to only do so until he can give it new orders. It will wait for those new orders. A third voice is more like a conversation. They keep telling him heart rates, oxygen levels, electrical use, and many other things. Those voices he leaves to their devices because they are actually extremely soothing. 

Cool lips on his own distract him from the conversations. “To get better,” Nicky explains lowly.

Tony can’t keep a smile from his lips. Nicky was really the most precious person. Kissing his boo boos. This man is all he has to keep him from letting his wish for escape consume him. 

Tony’s eyes start to drift, but he makes sure his focus is on his precious Nicky the whole time. Something good to take with him into the cold. Into his dreams.

He notes but doesn’t recognize the blue glow reflecting onto Nicky’s face from close proximity. Nor does Tony notice the gold plating covering his own body below the neck.

  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/blockovich) for background information on my fics. Or to ask me questions about my works. I would love that. Also, look out for the fanart of this story I have been uploading. I recently uploaded an image of the effects the injections have on Tony.

**Author's Note:**

> So, here I am starting a new story. I was going to finish [ My Name Is... ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7109200) before I would began this, but the plot bunny would not let me go.


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